dorm tour

As I mentioned earlier, I had a chance to go Thursday night on a driving tour of all the dorms here at BFA. I thought it would be interesting for you to get a look at what goes on "behind the scenes" at BFA and have some names of specific people you can be praying for. Students will begin arriving one week from today and there is still much to accomplish in many of the dorms!

Sonne (say "zone-ah") is a male dorm located 9 km from BFA in the town of Marzell. Sonne is the farthest dorm from school, placed on what is fondly referred to as The Hill. Here is an opportunity for prayer, as the dorm parents, Daron and Kristina, have not yet arrived. Currently the three RA's (Tommy, Carrie Beth [CB], and Chris) are manning the house themselves. Chris is a 2009 Moody grad, and Tommy is one of the people I met at Janz Team training last summer. There are approximately 22-24 boys expected to call Sonne their home away from home this year!

Blaun (say it like "plowin" but with a 'b' sound) is directly across the street from Sonne! Even though Blauen and Sonne are close and maintain a great relationship with each other, they also operate as two very different and separate dorms. Blauen is staffed by dorm parents Joe and Susie, and RA's Soyoung and Julie. Julie is also a 2009 Moody grad. Small world! Additionally, Blauen contains one of the smallest and therefore closest knit group of students with only 13 residents.

Palmgarten (say it like it looks) is the girls' dorm actually located in Kandern, only a few km from BFA. This dorm is actually within walking distance of my house, so it's the dorm i will most likely be volunteering in on Monday nights (RA's day off) or Thursday nights (DP's day off). The dorm parents are Luke and Stephanie, another couple I met at Janz Team training last summer, and the RA's are Lizzy (another JT friend) and Bonnie. Palmgarten has about 21 girls and because of how the building was used before BFA occupied it, many of the girls have their own bathrooms! This is not typical at a boarding school so these girls feel pretty special. Also, something to note about Palm is that it was due for some roof work and in considering the options, BFA decided to renovate and build another dorm on top.

The dorm on top is Maugenhard (say "mou [like mouse] -gen-hahd"), which used to be located in one of BFA's most expensive rented buildings. It was decided that it would be more cost efficient to build on top of Palm and move the Maugie boys in on top. This has created a lot of controversy but it's no different than Sonne and Blauen's situation, except that they are in the same building rather than across the street. The two dorms will continue to operate as two distinct and separate dorm families, and they even have separate entrances. Maugenhard is staffed by dorm parents Lane and Michelle, with the help of RA's Timmy (another JT friend) and Amanda. There are abotu 28 boys slated to call Maug their home this year, but currently construction is still underway! Pray that everything would come together for Maug in time for the students and that the dorm staff wouldn't be overwhelmed by everything that's left still to accomplish.

Haus Bad Reidlingen (say "ride-ling-gen") is commonly called HBR and located about 4 km from BFA. The dorm parents, Greg and Danielle, are new this year and facing the unique challenge of being dorm parents as well as parents to their two young children so please keep them in your prayers! Two RA's are on their team: Brandon )another JT friend) and Anna (PFO friend!). Together they will take care of 24 young men this year.

Storchenblick (say "stork-in-blick") is a femal dorm also located about 4 km from the school and staffed by Jim and Lynn, friends I met at Janz Team training last summer. Together with RA's Stephanie (JT friend) and Candy, 17 girls will be living in Storch this year. While we were visiting Storch, one of our staff kids lost a tooth so Lynn treated us all to popsicles. Yum!

Our last stop on the tour was Wittlingen (say it like it looks, except the W sounds like a V), another girls' dorm about 7 km from BFA. The dorm parents are Brant and Laure, who I knew immediately were from the great state of Texas when I walked into the dorm office and was surrounded by patriotic colors, Texas flags,and other fun decorations. I was particularly excited to visit Witt because I had yet to be reunited with Cara, one of the RA's who I'd met at Janz Team training last summer! Erin is the other RA who will be helping take care of 20 girls in Witt this year.

As you probably noticed, I mentioned quite a few people who I met last summer at Janz Team training. I can't even begin to explain how wonderfully comforting it is to already know so many people serving at BFA before I even arrived. These are incredible people I thought I'd never see again because at the time I was headed to VCS and they all went to BFA. There are even more working in the school as teachers and support statt: Viki, Katie, Mark and Susan, Bo and Leigh... Funny how God works, isn't it? It's truly been a joy to be reunited with these friends. One even commented that it "felt normal" for me to be here and I couldn't agree more. I'm so excited to continue building my friendships with these people as we serve alongside one another.